Interview with Kristoffer Berntsson

He’s been around for years skating in many competitions. He was the first
Swede ever to land a triple axel and has made some headlines at times but none
as big as after his amazing short program at Europeans in Budapest. Technical
skill, intricate choreography and charming artistic ability all came together
in a performance that rocked the world of figure skating making people gasp
for air asking “Who is this guy?” Magdalena met with him and got
some answers.

You
started skating at age 5, why did you choose figure skating?
It wasn’t really my choice. My parents put me in a skating class and there
was a bunch of us guys goofing around having a good time, it was fun! I played
hockey as well but didn’t like it as much.

Have you ever regretted
going into figure skating?
Not because I wanted to do something else instead. But sure, I’ve been
through some rough times but that was a while ago. Right now skating gets more
fun every day and I think it’s really right for me.

How do people react
when you tell them you’re a figure skater?
”Oh, really? Cool!”

What was your first
competition like?
It was a long time ago, and I didn’t skate a program, it was more just
elements. To be honest I don’t remember that much about it. But my coach
Andrea Dohany also coaches “Team Surprise” (reigning world
champions in synchronized skating) and I have competed in team skating as well.
That wasn’t for me though; it was way too hard to keep track of all the
other team members.

You
have won several national titles.
I won a few times as a junior and have three senior titles so far. One year
I didn’t compete because of an injury and another time the national championships
were at the same time as Europeans and I competed there.

And you just won
another Nordic title!
Well, there were only three of us competing and my main competitors were either
sick or injured. Still, standing on the top podium listening to the Swedish
national anthem is always a thrill although the Nordic title meant more to me
last year when I had to fight for it.

You
were the first Swede ever to land a triple axel.
My axel is solid now, I first landed it at nationals in Vallentuna back in 2000.It
was great, the win from that competition is still my best and it was my first
gold at nationals as a senior.

And now you’re
working on becoming the first Swede with a quad?
Yeah, and I was very close at Nordics! I have been close in practice too and
when I didn’t have so much competition I decided to try it in my programs.
Now we’ll see about worlds, a lot can happen until then.

Your short program
at Europeans in Budapest was amazing, what went through your head during those
2 ½ minutes?
I was too focused on what to do next to think about what would happen if I made
it. I put a lot of energy into the program and I was so concentrated during
the skate but afterwards all the tension disappeared and it felt so good, it
was pure bliss!

It was probably
your best skate ever, did you surprise yourself?
No, not really, I knew I could skate the program clean and I had landed all
the jumps in competition before but it was great that everything came together!

The newspapers in
Sweden wrote a lot about you and you even made the sports news on TV. What was
it like in Budapest?
There were no Swedish journalists in Budapest but some called me and asked for
comments. The biggest treat was that I got to skate in the last warm-up group
with Plushenko and the others, that was awesome!

You finished 13th,
your best result at any Europeans so far. Were you happy with that?
No, I was actually very sad that I didn’t make the top ten. If I had,
Sweden would have earned a second spot for Europeans next year and Filip Stiller
and I could have both gone. We’re friends and train in the same city and
I wanted badly to earn another spot so we could go together. I’m still
disappointed.

Do
you get nervous at competitions?
Sure, I get nervous like anyone else but I try hard to focus on what I do and
not care about anything else.

At Europeans in
Malmö 2003 you skated for an enthusiastic home crowd. What was it like?
Wonderful, it was just great, Malmö was the best! The audience help so
much and I felt no pressure, only support and a cheering crowd makes it so much
better to skate! I went to a competition last fall where our only audience were
the judges. It was during the day and it was so...dead! Needless to say competing
there wasn't much fun...

You’ve
had a very good season, have you done anything differently in your training?
I’ve had a season with virtually no illness or injuries so the training
has gone well. I think I’m also more aware of my skating, especially about
the presentation. Earlier my skating was all about being an athlete and expressing
myself was embarrassing, but now I enjoy that part too, I’ve grown into
it.

What
does a regular day look like?
I have no regular days since I have to work around my classes in school. But
besides skating I have gym sessions and I lift weights. I used to do ballet
but I didn’t care much for it... Skating is the fun part; all these other
things are just to make me a better skater!

Besides your home
club you train some in Flims in Switzerland and in Russia with Viktor Kudriavtsev.
I’ve been to his training camps many times. His English is limited and
I don’t speak Russian so we don’t talk all that much, I just do
what he shows me, but it’s good training.

Where will you train
this summer?
Nothing has been decided yet.

If you weren’t
a skater, what other sport do you think you would be involved in?
I don’t have the slightest idea!

What’s your
favorite move on the ice?
Foot work, I like to go out there and play!

The music to your
short program is very modern (Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park) Who chose the
music?
I did! I’m the one who has to skate to it so I have to like it! My ears
are always listening for good skating music but I don’t want music someone
else has skated to already so it gets harder and harder to find something good.
The short program was choreographed by Zerjon Abede, he’s a dancer from
Gothenburg. Some girls in my club started taking dance lessons from him and
I wanted to do something really different. Igor Bobrin did my free program (to
”The Time Machine” by Klaus Badelt.). I got in touch with him through
Viktor Kudriavtsev.

Compared
to other male skaters your costumes are quite conservative, who makes them?
A lady named Galina Lautkova; she’s from Russia but works as a coach and
choreographer in Gothenburg. I don’t like a lot of glittery stuff or ruffles
on my costumes, I don’t design them myself but I do have some input.

You competed at
the Bofrost Cup on Ice last fall where
there was a jumping competition.
It was very cool, instead of a short program we jumped and then had the free
skate the next day. It was great to compete that way, and to watch, I think
everyone had a blast! I loved it even though I didn’t do so well. The
first competition of the season was a disaster for me and I wondered if I was
ready for the next one, the Finlandia Trophy. But I got bronze there so I was
ready!

You have a nice
collection of medals, where do you keep them?
I have a special cabinet with glass doors in my room and I keep all the medals
in there, it looks very nice.

At Europeans and
Worlds this season, the interim judging system is used, but some competitions
have applied the Code of Points. Which system do you prefer?
I’m not for the idea of randomly counting only certain judge’s marks.
And at Euros the ordinals for some skaters ranged from 5 to 25 which made me
wonder if the judges were watching the same competition! The off the wall marks
are the ones that shouldn’t be counted!
I understand the Code of Points and will of course design my programs for the
maximum level threes. Whether the system will stop judges from cheating is hard
to say, but with so many sets of points given it should be more fair. But I
think it was too early to start using the system this season.

Do you have a favorite
skater?
When I was younger I never watched skating so I had no favourites. But I think
Evgeni Plushenko is in a class of his own, when he takes the ice he owns it!
You probably don’t feel that presence watching him on TV, but live it’s
an incredible feeling!

You will compete
in Dortmund, what are your expectations there?
To skate three good programs! I managed two in Budapest but at Worlds I want
to do all three.

Worlds pretty much
ends this season, what are your plans for next year?
I have none yet, but of course I’d like a Grand prix assignment. The Swedish
Figure Skating Association will decide which competitions I’ll go to but
there really aren’t that many, I pretty much did them all this year...

Going to Worlds
means being away for a week, staying in a hotel, limited ice time etc. How do
you pass the time?
I can’t train as much as I do at home which is fine, I wouldn’t
want to anyway, but there’s a lot of waiting. I can’t say I hang
out a lot with other skaters; we might eat together and watch the other disciplines.
I watch the ladies and the pairs but in Budapest we had practice during the
pair’s free skate so I didn’t get to see much of them. I don’t
have a lot of interest in the dance. The singles and the pairs have a lot in
common but the dance is so different I can’t really tell if they’re
good or not and I don’t know the dancers. But competitions are fun!

Could you consider
skating in pairs?
No thanks! I’ve never tried it but I don’t think it’d suit
me at all!

You’re a student
at the Chalmers Institute of Technology, what is your major?
I’m in the electrical engineering program, but it’ll take me a while
to graduate. I can’t combine my training with a full load of classes and
I miss a lot when I’m away at competitions. But I’m not in a hurry
since I won’t quit skating anytime soon, but at some point in the future
I could consider working in the field of environmental technology.

What do you do during
your time off?
I rest as much as I can. I have no hobby since school and training takes all
my time, but someday I’d like to try parachuting again!

What is your celebrity
status at home?
Absolutely none and when I’m with my friends we never discuss figure skating.
Some of them might watch some competitions on TV is all.

Do people recognize
you?
At competitions, sure, and I might do a few interviews and sign some autographs,
but other than that, no.

What are your plans
for the future?
I want to continue competing for a while longer. Right now I love skating and
I won’t quit while things keep getting better. Maybe later I might do
some shows, I don’t know. I can’t see myself as a coach or a judge
but shows are fun. At camp in Switzerland last summer the whole group went to
Italy and put on a show, it was great! Or I’ll have a job in environmental
technology.

What is your figure
skating dream?
To win the Olympics! I have never skated in any Olympic games and Turin is only
two years away. The Swedish Olympic committee is financing part of the training
for Lina Johansson and me and we both want to go!

Do you have any
other sponsors?
My hair stylist! My hair has been brown, blonde and red because I wanted to
try something new. But last time it was blonde I didn’t like it much so
I didn’t keep it that way for very long.